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AN  ADDRESS 


ON 


NORMAL  SCHOOLS  OF  AGRICULTURE 


FOR 


FARMERS'  INSTITUTE  WORKERS. 


DEI,1VHRKD   BY 


Prof.  JOHN,  HAMILTON, 


BEFORE  THE  MEETING  OF 


THE  PENNSYLVANIA  FARMERS'  NORMAL  INSTITUTE 


HELD  AT 


Bellefonte,  Pa.,  Oct.  11-14,  1904. 


WM.  STANLEY  RAY, 

STATE  PRINTER  OF  PENNSYLVANIA, 
1905. 


AN  ADDRESS 


ON 


NORMAL  SCHOOLS  OF  AGRICETIIRE 


FOR 


FARMERS'  INSTITUTE  WORKERS. 


DEI,1VERED   BY 


Prof.  JOHN  HAMILTON, 


BEFORE  THE  MEETING  OF 


THE  PENNSYLVANIA  FARMERS'  NORMAL  INSTITUTE 


HELD  AT 


Bellefonte,  Pa.,  Oct.  11-14,  1904. 


WM.  STANLEY  RAY, 

STATE  PRINTER  OP  PENNSYLVANIA, 
1905. 


i>3fS 
H3 


<2) 


NORMAL  SCHOOLS  OF  AGKICULTURE  FOR  INSTITUTE 

WORKERS. 


Br  PKOP.  JOHN  Hamilton,  Farmers'  Institute  Specialist,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Farmers'  Institute  workers,  whether  they  be  the  managers  in 
charge  of  the  institute  organization  and  responsible  for  its  develop- 
ment and  success,  or  the  lecturers  or  teachers  giving  instruction  in 
the  institute  school,  occupy  an  important  place  in  the  new  agricul- 
ture, and  are  as  much  a  necessity  in  agricultural  education  as  are 
machinery  and  improved  animals  or  plants  in  modern  farm  practice. 
They  have  come  into  existence  to  satisfy  a  need  in  farming;  the 
need  for  reliable  and  useful  information  respecting  agricultural 
operations.  Every  rural  community  is  suffering  for  lack  of  this  kind 
of  information,  whether  it  be  old  and  highly  progressive  or  new  and 
correspondingly  backward.  The  need  is  universal;  it  is  urgent,  and 
it  is  paramount  in  importance  to  agriculture. 

SYSTEM  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

When  our  system  of  public  education,  was  established  it  seemed  to 
have  been  assumed  that  the  adult  farmer,  by  reason  of  his  years,  was 
capable  of  taking  care  of  himself.  That  with  such  instruction  as  the 
common  school  gave,  he  would  be  able  to  understand  the  forces  with 
which  he  was  to  deal  sufficiently  well  to  enable  him  to  use  them,  if 
not  to  the  best  possible  advantage,  at  least  skilfully  enough  to  se- 
cure a  livelijiood  for  himself  and  family. 

So  long  as  soils  w^ere  new  and  until  their  natural  supply  of  imme- 
diately available  plant  food  had  become  exhausted,  this  theory  ap- 
peared to  be  correct.  When,  however,  lands  became  poor  and  crops, 
consequently,  began  to  grow  less,  and  when  the  best  farmers  were 
unable  to  arrest  this  decline^  it  became  evident  that  more  was  nec- 
essary to  equip  a  farmer  for  his  calling  than  the  meager  education 
given  in  the  old-time  public  school.  The  days  when  anybody  could 
farm  had  departed  along  with  the  fertility  of  the  virgin  soil  that  had 
made  such  agriculture  possible,  and  the  new  era — the  age  of  restora- 
tion and  conservation — was  ushered  in,  in  which  only  the  well-in- 
formed could  hope  to  succeed. 


Even  when  this  became  evident,  and  our  fathers  undertook  to  pro- 
vide relief  it  did  not  occur  to  them  that  at  least  partial  remedy  might 
have  been  found  in  readjusting  and  improving  the  curricula  of  the 
rural  schools,  but  they  left  these  schools  in  their  old  condition  and 
proceeded  to  establish  colleges  for  the  higher  education  of  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  farmers,  into  which  comparatively  few  could  ever 
hope  to  enter. 

FARMERS'  INSTITUTES. 

The  great  mass  of  farmers  were  unprovided  with  means  of  instruc- 
tion until  the  farmers'  institute  was  organized  about  20  years  ago. 
That  it  meets  a  need  in  agriculture,  is  shown  by  the  attendance  at 
these  meetings  last  year  of  about  one  million  farmers,  and  by  the  de- 
mand that  is  general  in  all  of  the  states  for  a  larger  number  of  in- 
stitutes, and  for  more  and  better  equipped  teachers.  All  of  the 
states,  excepting  three,  have  now  adopted  a  system  of  farmers'  in- 
stitutes, and  in  most  of  them  support  from  the  public  funds  is  given 
in  recognition  of  their  educational  character  and  of  their  great  prac- 
tical value  to  agriculture.  Like  every  other  educational  institution, 
the  institute  can  progress  no  faster  than  as  teachers  are  supplied  to 
give  instruction,  and  can  rise  no  higher  than  as  these  teachers  are 
qualified  for  their  work. 

The  farmers'  institute  is  an  educational  institution,  and  is  de- 
pendent directly  for  its  efficiency  upon  two  classes  of  officers:  The 
managers,  who  have  charge  of  the  organization,  and  the  lecturers, 
who  give  instruction. 

THE   INSTITUTE   MANAGER. 

Unless  the  managers  have,  in  marked  degree,  the  power  of  organiz. 
ing  the  work  upon  broad  and  progressive  lines,  it  will  not  succeed,  and 
unless  they  have  ideals  in  agricultural  education  that  are  high  and 
far  reaching  they  will  be  content  with  inferior  teachers  and  min- 
strel show  entertainments.  The  need  for  men  of  superior  qualifi- 
cations for  managers  is  just  now  specially  important. 

The  institute  movement  is  in  its  formative  stage,  where  it  needs 
the  most  careful  planning  and  direction  in  order  that  its  organiza- 
tion and  scheme  of  instruction  may  be  perfected.  Unless  these  foun- 
dation matters  are  in  capable  hands  the  work  will  not  only  not  pro- 
gress but  it  is  sure  to  rapidly  decline.  Improvement  can  only  come 
from  careful  study  of  the  questions  involved  in  rural  education,  and 
by  painstaking  effort  to  carry  into  operation  high  ideals.  Hitherto, 
there  has  been  but  slight  opportunity  for  conference  among  local 
managers  for  determining  what  are  the  most  efficient  methods  in 
institute  development,  and  for  settling  upon  ideals  in  institute  in- 
struction.   Those  in  control  of  railroads,  mills,  mines  and  mercantile 


enterprises,  find  that  trained  managers  are  a  necessity  if  their  busi- 
ness is  to  succeed.  Formerly,  when  nothing  better  was  possible, 
the  training  came  through  a  long  apprenticeship  and  experience  in 
the  practical  work  of  the  business.  Now  it  is  secured  through 
schools  of  study,  in  which  principles  are  taught  with  sufficient  prac- 
tice to  fix  the  principles  well  in  mind. 

A  method  for  the  training  of  efficient  managers  is  a  much  needed 
addition  to  the  institutes.  These  managers  are  responsible  for  the 
form  of  organization  of  their  local  meetings;  for  the  proper  adver- 
tising of  their  institutes;  the  formation  of  committees;  for  the  prep- 
aration of  the  course  of  study  or  program  that  is  to  be  presented; 
for  the  selecting  of  teachers,  the  number  of  sessions,  the  localities 
in  which  institutes  are  to  be  held,  and  substantially  for  the  whole 
work  of  organizing  and  conducting  the  school.  If  the  series  of  meet- 
ings are  a  failure  the  local  managers,  first  of  all,  are  held  responsible. 
If  they  succeed,  it  is  largely  due  to  the  efforts  that  they  put  forth. 

Success  from  the  managers  standpoint  at  present  consists  in  a  full 
house  made  up  of  agricultural  people,  an  interesting  and  instructive 
program^  and  a  corps  of  capable  teachers.  Success  in  the  future  will 
require  much  more  than  this.  When  the  county  institute  is  so  or- 
ganized as  to  meet  each  month  and  have  auxiliaries  in  every  township 
and  community,  which  likewise  hold  stated  meetings;  when  it  will 
own  a  farm,  stock-breeding  barns,  plant-improvement  plots,  and  de- 
monstrate the  value  of  methods  by  practical  tests,  and  when  lec- 
turers will  be  employed  by  the  year,  at  least  one  for  each  county  in 
a  state,  the  position  of  the  institute  manager  will  be  wholly  different 
from  what  it  is  to-day.  He  will  be  a  paid  official  and  will  need  a 
kind  of  training  that  the  average  manager  does  not  possess;  a  kind 
of  equipment  that  can  only  come  from  the  study  of  science  and  from 
experience  in  work  of  experimentation  as  it  is  now  being  conducted 
by  the  best  agricultural  experiment  stations  of  the  country.  The 
local  manager  is  destined  to  be  the  most  important  factor  in  the  in- 
stitute work  in  the  future — a  superior  man,  thoroughly  educated 
and  trained. 

The  line  of  development  in  institutes  is  even  now  in  the  direction 
that  I  have  indicated,  and  it  is  likely  to  be  on  us  as  a  living  question 
before  we  are  prepared,  unless  we  begin  now  to  educate  men  for  the 
new  duties  which  the  developed  system  will  impose.  We  are  now 
but  in  the  kindergarten  stage  of  the  institute  idea  in  education.  The 
increasing  needs  of  men  will  demand  that  it  be  perfected,  and  its 
progress  toward  this  perfection  can  only  be  by  adding  to  its  power 
to  impart  valuable  information  and  by  extending  it  so  as  to  be  in 
some  form  or  other  within  the  reach  of  every  citizen  every  day  in  the 
year;  in  other  words,  to  make  it  highly  educational  and  constantly 
and  universally  useful.  To  hasten  that  day,  training  schools  for  in- 
stitute managers  are  a  necessity. 


THE  INSTITUTE   TEACHERS. 

The  other  class  of  workers  upon  whom  the  institute  is  dependent 
for  eflficiency  is,  as  has  been  stated,  the  force  of  teachers.  Unless 
this  is  efficient  the  institute  is  a  failure,  no  matter  how  carefully  it 
has  been  organized,  or  how  well  attended^  or  how  judiciously  the 
topics  to  be  treated  have  been  chosen.  The  teacher  is  the  life  of 
any  school ;  more  than  the  text-books  or  buildings  or  equipment,  nec- 
essary as  these  are.  If  he  is  uninteresting  or  otherwise  incapable, 
all  of  the  trouble  and  expense  previously  incurred  is  wasted  effort 
and  money;  like  a  great  manufactory,  equipped  wath  intricate  and 
costly  machinery,  suited  to  the  production  of  beautiful  and  perfect 
fabrics,  but  rendered  worse  than  useless  by  reason  of  its  being  man- 
ned by  unskilled  or  careless  workmen. 

Institute  instruction  is  a  new  profession  scarcely  20  years  of  age 
in  the  oldest  states.  It  began  in  w^eakness  but  has  grown  until  now 
it  requires  strong  men  to  teach  institute  audiences.  Many  who  were 
acceptable  lecturers  20  years  ago  are  not  now  asked  to  teach.  They 
have  failed  to  keep  abreast  of  the  advance  of  science  and  their  ad- 
vice is  no  longer  sought.  Many  also  who  have  succeeded  admirably 
with  classes  of  students  in  college  or  university  work  and  whose 
capability,  so  far  as  learning  is  concerned,  is  admitted,  find  them- 
selves altogether  unfit  to  give  instruction  to  audiences  of  farming 
people.  This  work  is  a  profession  difficult  in  the  extreme  and  re- 
quires peculiar  training  and  special  personal  qualities  and  exper- 
ience to  properly  perform.  The  audiences  are  composed  of  all 
classes,  both  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls,  the  scholarly  profes- 
sional man  and  the  illiterate.  The  meeting  is  voluntary;  all  are  free 
to  come  or  go  at  will.  There  are  those  who  are  deeply  interested 
in  the  subjects  on  the  program,  and  others  who  care  nothing  for  the 
topics,  a  mixed  audience,  with  varied  interests  and  occupations, 
to  be  held  from  30  minutes  to  an  hour,  and  given  valuable  instruc- 
tion in  a  way  to  interest  and  receive  the  attention  of  the  thoughtless 
to  the  end;  all  to  be  accomplished  without  the  loss  of  dignity  by 
the  lecturer  and  without  catering  to  any  popular  prejudice  that  may 
prevail.  To  those  who  think  this  easy  the  answer  is,  attempt  it  and 
discover  for  yourself.  To  do  such  work  well  requires  a  high  order 
of  attainment  and  the  men  who  completely  and  conspicuously  suc- 
ceed are  few. 

Nevertheless,  if  the  institute  is  to  fulfill  its  mission  as  a  teacher 
of  agricultural  truth  and  is  to  take  its  proper  place  among  the  edu- 
cational institutions  of  the  time,  it  must  be  equipped  in  a  great  de- 
gree with  precisely  such  a  force.  All  who  undertake  to  teach  in 
this  school  of  applied  science  must  possess  in  more  than  ordinary 
degree  the  qualifications  that  distinguish  these  superior  men.     More- 


over,  if  the  institutes  are  to  be  extended  until  they  reach  the  many 
millions  who  need  their  help,  the  force  of  teachers  will  have  to  be 
increased  twenty  or  even  fifty-fold. 

SUPPLYING  INSTRUCTORS. 

The  important  and  difficult  question  that  now  confronts  the  friends 
of  institute  work  is,  How  can  the  supply  of  capable  institute  instruc- 
tors be  increased? 

Hitherto,  State  directors  have  depended  upon  picked-up  help  for 
lecture  service;  upon  the  agricultural  colleges  and  experiment  sta- 
tions for  expert  scientists  to  teach  the  science  of  agriculture,  and 
upon  such  successful  practical  farmers  as  can  be  induced  to  leave 
their  work  and  take  a  place  upon  the  force  for  giving  instruction  re- 
specting the  practical  operations  of  the  farm.  The  rapidly  expand- 
ing work  of  the  agricultural  colleges  and  of  the  experiment  stations 
is  each  year  making  it  more  and  more  difficult  for  members  of  the 
teaching  and  experiment  station  force  to  be  spared  from  their  duties 
at  these  institutions.  Unless  these  colleges  and  stations  employ  a 
special  force  of  experts  to  represent  them  in  the  farmers'  institutes, 
the  time  will  soon  come  when  very  few  of  their  number  will  be  in  the 
institute  field.  Even  now,  many  directors  are  dependent  almost  en- 
tirely upon  laymen  for  service  as  institute  instructors,  with  the  pros- 
pect that,  unless  something  of  the  kind  suggested  is  done,  of  being 
wholly  deprived  of  college  and  station  help. 

For  the  year  ending  June  30,  1903,  the  colleges  and  stations  of  the 
United  States  furnished  196  members  of  their  staffs  for  the  institute 
work  out  of  a  total  of  924  lecturers  on  the  force.  These  lecturers 
contributed  1,66G  days  of  time  out  of  a  total  of  4,880  days  of  insti- 
tutes reported,  being  20  per  cent,  of  the  lecture  force,  and  showing 
that  they  were  present  at  30  per  cent,  of  the  institutes  held.  In  13 
states  and  territories  the  entire  institute  work  was  performed  by  the 
agricultural  college  and  station  men,  and  in  five  others  more  than 
half  of  the  force  was  made  up  of  college  and  station  officials.  It  is 
evident  that  unless  some  means  are  devised  for  aiding  the  colleges 
and  stations  in  these  states,  that  very  soon  the  institute  work  must 
be  abandoned  and  what  has  been  gained  at  so  much  cost  and  effort 
will  be  lost. 

SOURCES  OP  SUPPLY. 

There  are  three  possible  sources  of  supply  for  the  institute  lec- 
ture force.  The  first  is  from  the  faculties  of  the  agricultural  colleges 
and  the  staffs  at  the  agricultural  experiment  stations.  The  supply 
from  these  sources,  as  the  colleges  and  stations  are  at  present  or- 


8 

ganized,  cannot  be  materially  increased  and  is  likely  to  diminish  each 
year,  as  these  institutions  expand  their  work.  The  second  is^  for 
these  institutions  to  employ  a  special  force  of  experts  who  shall  be 
field  men,  who  shall  represent  them  in  the  institute  work,  and  also 
be  itinerant  instructors  in  agriculture  in  the  intervals  between  the 
regular  periods  of  institute  service.  Such  a  force  could  be  indef- 
initely increased,  according  to  the  appropriation  that  could  be  se- 
cured for  meeting  their  salaries  and  expenses.  Such  action  on  the 
part  of  these  institutions  would  be  most  advantageous  to  them  and 
be  of  great  assistance  to  the  institute  work. 

The  third  method  for  enlarging  the  force  of  teachers,  is,  for  the 
State  directors  to  search  out  capable  farmers  who  have  succeeded 
along  at  least  one  line  of  agriculture,  and  train  them  for  institute 
teaching  work.  The  supply  of  such  men  ought  to  increase  each  year 
as  better  methods  of  agriculture  become  known  and  practiced  and  as 
the  colleges  send  out  graduates  to  take  up  agricultural  pursuits. 
Most  of  these  men  have  had  excellent  training  along  practical  lines 
which  fits  them  for  institute  work  as  no  mere  theoretical  knowledge 
possibly  could.  They  lack,  however,  an  Important  qualification 
which  every  capable  teacher  of  agriculture  must  possess ;  the  ability 
to  give  the  reason  or  explanation  of  results  so  as  to  get  at  the  prin- 
ciples that  control  and  affect  the  result.  They  also  need  to  know  and 
to  use  ihe  exact  methods  in  experimentation  and  interpretation  of 
the  results  that  the  skilled  investigator  employs.  They  must  acquire 
the  scientific  method,  so  as  to  be  able  to  present  in  a  convincing 
way  the  principles  that  they  advocate.  They  must  adopt  the  method 
that  takes  nothing  for  granted  in  an  experiment;  that  leaves  no  gaps 
unaccounted  for,  and  no  parts  unexplained. 

INSTRUCTING  THE  LECTURERS. 

Some  institute  directors  have  come  to  see  that  something  must  be 
done  to  insure  that  their  lay  teachers  are  informed  in  regard  to  the 
present  status  of  knowledge  respecting  their  specialities,  so-  that 
there  may  be  no  conflict  in  teaching  among  the  members  of  the  force. 
With  this  in  mind,  the  director  of  one  state— New  York— has  been 
assembling  for  a  few  days  each  year  his  entire  lecture  force  at  the 
State  Experiment  Station  and  at  the  Agricultural  College  to  re- 
ceive instruction.  Last  year  this  course  was  extended  to  cover  two 
weeks,  during  which  expert  teachers  of  agriculture  science  gave 
lecturers  upon  their  several  specialities  for  the  benefit  of  the  insti- 
tute lecture  force.     Other  states  have  been  doing  similar  work. 

These  courses  of  lectures  were  designed  for  the  lecturers  now  com- 
posing the  institute  crops.  However  valuable  such  a  course  go  given 
may  be  to  the  existing  force  of  teachers,  it  will  not  meet  the  needs  of 


the  work  unless  it  brings  into  the  service  others  who  are  needed  and 
who  might  become,  if  trained,  valuable  additions  to  the  institute. 
The  school  that  is  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  institute  work  must  go 
further  than  provide  for  the  giving  of  a  few  days  iuatruction  to  the 
lecturers  now  at  work.  It  must  reach  out  to  the  many  successful 
and  intelligent  farmers  of  the  country  who^  if  discovered  and  given 
proper  opportunities,  would  soon  equal  if  not  surpass  those  now 
teaching  in  institutes.  The  problem  is  not  merely  how  to  increase 
the  efficiency  of  the  present  workers,  although  that  is  very  im- 
portant, but  to  discover  some  practical  and  effective  means  for  per- 
manently and  rapidly  increasing  the  number. 

EFFECT  UPON  PRODUCT. 

If  a  sufficient  force  of  teachers  of  agriculture  were  at  work  con- 
stantly in  each  state  instructing  farmers  and  demonstrating  the 
value  of  new  crops  and  new  methods,  the  production  of  the  country 
would  speedily  be  greatly  increased. 

Five  dollars  added  to  the  value  of  each  dairy  cow  would  increase 
the  wealth  of  the  farmers  of  the  United  States  over  ninety  millions 
of  dollars  (|90,563,535). 

Two  dollars  added  to  the  value  of  each  of  all  other  cattle  would  in 
crease  it  by  over  one  hundred  million  dollars  (|102,652,102)  more. 

Ten  dollars  to  each  horse  would  increase  their  income  by  over  two 
hundred  and  thirteen  million  of  dollars  (|213,168,880). 

Thirty  eggs  added  to  the  annual  production  of  a  hen,  whose  aver- 
age yearly  output  is  now  but  66,  when  it  might  be  200,  would  add 
over  164,000,000  ($64,706,660). 

One  pound  to  each  chicken  at  ten  cents  per  pound  would  amount 
to  over  123,000,000  (|23,359,808). 

One-fourth  increase  to  the  present  product  of  fruit  would  amount 
to  over  119,000,000  (|19,118,319). 

One-third  added  to  the  present  product  of  potatoes  and  grain 
would  be  more  than  |524,000,000  (|524,540,836). 

One-third  added  to  the  staple  products  would  amount  to  over  |306,- 
000,000  (1306,618,511),  and  with  like  additions  to  other  crops  and 
animals  not  enumerated,  would  reach  a  total  of  |1,442,^19,469,  all 
added  to  the  present  product  and  all  going  into  the  farmers'  bank 
account. 

This  prepares  the  way  for  the  more  direct  discussion  of  the  topic 
assigned  me  in  this  paper — "Normal  Schools  of  Agriculture  for  In- 
stitute Workers."    What  kind  of  a  school  should  this  be? 

OF  SUPERIOR  GRADE. 

A  school  for  preparing  men  and  women  to  become  efficient  work- 
ers in  farmers'  institutes  ought  not  to  be  of  an  elementary  or  primary 


10 

grade.  The  kind  of  information  that  is  needed  in  institutes  is  the 
latest  and  most  advanced,  and  if  the  workers  are  to  be  able  to  fur- 
nish it  they  must  have  had  the  advantage  of  superior  training.  The 
best  is  none  too  good,  and  only  the  best  is  good  enough.  This  means 
that  the  force  of  teachers  must  be  composed  of  capable  men,  thor- 
oughly informed  with  respect  to  the  sciences  that  affect  agriculture 
and  with  the  details  of  practices  that  are  most  approved.  No  half- 
educated  scientist  is  fit  to  teach  in  such  an  institution,  any  more 
than  a  half-trained  classical  scholar  is  fit  to  teach  in  the  University 
of  Athens. 

The  men  and  women  attending  such  a  school  have  had  for  the  most 
part  much  experience  in  practical  agriculture  and  most  of  them  have 
more  than  ordinary  education.  They  come  not  for  general  culture, 
but  for  receiving  instruction  in  some  speciality  in  which  they  are 
already  well-informed.  They  are^  therefore,  in  a  sense  post-grad- 
uate students  of  agriculture  so  far  as  their  specialities  are  con- 
cerned. 

MUST  TEACH  SPECIALITIES. 

The  school  that  is  to  be  adapted  to  their  wants  will  need  to  provide 
for  the  teaching  of  numerous  specialities.  This  will  necessitate  a 
large  faculty  of  expert  specialists  to  give  instruction,  all  of  whom 
should  be  teachers  of  experience.  Specialities  in  institute  work  dif- 
fer in  character  from  those  ordinarily  taught  as  specialities  in  col- 
lege. A  man  who  lectures  in  the  institutes  on  dairying  is  a  specialist 
in  institute  work.  But  in  a  training  school  for  preparing  men  to 
give  instruction  on  dairying,  there  would  be  needed  the  services  of 
several  specialists:  One  on  bacteriology,  one  on  chemistry,  one  on 
animal  physiology,  one  on  animal  nutrition,  one  on  the  management 
of  milk  and  cream  and  one  on  butter  and  cheese;  all  experts,  whose 
special  qualifications  are  needed  to  train  the  institute  lecturer  who 
is  to  make  the  giving  of  dairy  instruction  a  speciality.  A  similar 
force  of  experts  will  be  needed  for  the  proper  training  of  specialists 
along  other  lines,  thus  requiring  a  large  number  of  skilled  teachers 
to  properly  equip  such  a  school. 

ORG^IZATION  OF  A  NORMAL  SCHOOL. 

How  shall  such  a  school  be  organized?  Experiments  in  normal 
school  work  for  institute  workers  have  thus  far  been  confined  to 
assisting  the  lecturers  and  have  not  included  the  other  classes  of 
workers  known  as  the  managers  or  directors  of  the  institutes,  who, 
as  I  have  indicated,  will  be  equally  important  features  in  the  institute 
of  the  future.  The  number  of  managers  will  greatly  exceed  that 
of  the  lecture  force  by  several  times.  Experiments  thus  far  made 
also  show,  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  certainty,  that  no  single  state 


11 

is  at  present  able  to  establish,  equip  and  properly  conduct  a  normal 
school  of  agriculture  such  as  the  institute  work  now  demands  for 
the  education  of  its  lecturers. 

The  first  practical  difficulty  in  the  way  of  any  state  undertaking 
to  establish  such  a  school  is  the  fact,  that  the  institute  lecture  force 
in  most  of  the  states  is  comparatively  small.  Because  of  this  and 
by  reason  of  the  limited  number  of  instructors  available  at  any  one 
institution,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  divide  the  lecture  force  into 
classes  of  sufficient  number  that  the  instruction  given  may  be  suited 
to  the  peculiar  needs  of  the  several  lecturers  in  the  line  of  their 
specialities.  Unless  this  can  be  done  each  student  will  be  obliged^ 
if  he  wishes  to  occupy  his  time,  to  attend  all  of  the  lectures,  whether 
the  subjects  are  those  upon  which  he  desires  information  or  not,  and 
thus  during  the  entire  course  he  may  have  had  but  one  or  two  lec- 
tures on  his  particular  speciality. 

The  second  difficulty  is,  that  most  of  the  agricultural  colleges  and 
experiment  stations  are  not  as  yet  sufficiently  equipped  in  their 
teaching  force  of  experts  to  do  more  than  cover  a  quite  limited  range 
of  topics.  Some  institutions  make  a  speciality  of  a  single  phase  of 
agriculture,  as  animal  husbandry,  forestry,  irrigation,  plant  breed- 
ing, soil  physics  or  other  branches  of  farming,  and  are  not  prepared 
to  give  advanced  or  post-graduate  instruction  in  the  particular  sub 
jects  which  the  institute  lecturer  expects  to  teach. 

A  third  difficulty  is,  that  no  one  institution  can  afford  to  give  the 
use  of  its  teaching  force  for  the  length  of  time  needed  to  make  a 
course  effective.  A  four  or  six  weeks'  term  is  an  impossibility  fof 
any  agricultural  college  or  experiment  station,  and  yet  this  is  not 
too  long  for  institute  workers  to  devote  to  the  study  of  their  several 
specialities.  One  week  is  about  as  much  as  any  institution  can  con 
tribute  annually  outside  of  its  regular  work,  and  this  is  too  short  a 
period  for  the  proper  treatment  of  the  subjects  that  need  to  be  con 
sidered. 

SEVERAL  STATES  UNITE. 

For  the  present  and  until  the  agricultural  colleges  have  been 
greatly  strengthened  and  until  the  institute  force  has  been  greatly 
enlarged,  it  will  be  necessary  for  several  states  to  unite  in  a  normal 
school  to  be  held  at  different  institutions  each  year  and  to  be 
equipped  with  a  teaching  force  contributed  by  each.  This  would 
overcome  the  difficulties  mentioned,  and  make  it  possible  to  classify 
the  students  and  thus  enable  them  to  devote  their  time  to  subjects 
that  more  nearly  relate  to  their  several  specialities.  No  one  in- 
stitution would  be  seriously  embarrassed  by  the  loss  of  the  number 
of  its  teaching  force,  which  it  would  be  called  upon  to  furnish,  and 


12 

the  additional  number  of  subjects  offered  in  such  a  school  would  give 
a  character  to  the  meeting  and  enthusiasm  to  the  teachers  and 
scholars  that  would  do  much  to  popularize  it  and  give  it  standing 
among  educational  institutions. 

An  essential  feature  of  a  school  that  is  to  train  institute  lecturers 
is,  that  it  shall  be  in  contact  with  field  demonstrations  or  experi- 
ments in  agriculture  that  are  conducted  along  scientific  lines.  By 
changing  the  location  of  the  normal  school  each  year  to  a  different 
institution^  the  students  would  have  the  advantage  of  contact  with 
a  wide  range  of  experiment  work,  and  thus  be  far  better  equipped 
for  giving  instruction  than  would  be  possible  if  they  had  only  visited 
a  single  institution.  The  expense  to  the  students  would  be  but 
slightly  increased  by  this  method,  and  the  extended  acquaintance 
with  fellow-workers  and  college  experts  thus  formed  would  be  of 
lasting  benefit.  States  might  be  grouped  whose  agricultural  inter- 
ests are  most  similar,  as  for  instance,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Penn- 
sylvania, Delaware,  Maryland  and  Ohio.  These  six  states  repre- 
sented in  1903,  an  aggregate  instruction  force  of  217  lecturers.  Fif- 
teen of  these  lecturers  were  reported  as  being  connected  with  the 
experiment  stations  of  the  several  states  or  the  faculties  of  their 
agricultural  collges,  leaving  202  who  would  be  likely  to  be  in  atten- 
dance at  a  school  formed  by  a  union  of  the  six  states  designated. 
If  there  were  added  to  these,  one  local  manager  for  each  county  in 
these  six  states,  numbering  262,  there  would  be  a  total  of  464. 

It  is  reasonable  also  to  expect  that  others,  knowing  of  the  normal 
school  of  instruction  provided  and  of  its  high  character,  would  be 
attracted  in  perhaps  considerable  numbers^  thus  adding  to  the  classes 
that  would  annually  assemble. 

Suitable  courses  of  study  for  such  a  school  could  be  prepared  by 
the  deans  of  the  agricultural  faculties  of  the  several  agricultural 
colleges  and  by  the  directors  of  the  experiment  stations  of  the 
states  interested,  together  with  the  State  directors  of  institutes  for 
these  states,  this  body  forming  a  board  of  control.  These  represen- 
tatives could  also  select  the  teaching  force  or  faculty  of  the  normal 
school  each  year,  and  make  requests  to  the  respective  institutions 
for  the  assignment  of  the  persons  selected. 

The  courses  of  study  should  be  constructed  so  as  to  require  at 
least  two  years  for  their  completion,  and  a  certificate  could  be  given 
to  those  who  satisfactorily  pass  the  examinations  in  any  one  or  more 
of  the  courses  offered. 


•  13 

EXPENSE. 

The  average  cost  to  the  students  in  such  a  school  need  not  exceed 
|100  per  term  of  eight  weeks,  distributed  substantially  as  follows: 

A  matriculation  fee  of $25  00 

Eight  weeks'  board  and  room, 40  00 

Certificate  of  graduation, 5  00 

Transportation  charges,  30  00 


?100  00 


The  cost  for  maintaining  such  a  school  would  vary  as  the  faculty 
is  increased.  No  doubt  the  work  could  be  begun  with  a  force  of  12 
lecturers  on  the  faculty  staff,  or  two  from  each  state,  changing  the 
men  from  time  to  time  as  the  needs  of  the  school  required.  The  col- 
lege and  station  officers  and  the  State  directors  would  no  doubt 
contribute  whatever  deficiency  might  arise  from  the  failure  of  the 
matriculation  fees  to  meet  expenses.  The  matriculation  fees  of  250 
students  would  amount  to  |6,250.  The  salaries  of  12  professors  for 
two  months  at  flOO  per  month  would  be  |4,800;  salary  of  a  perma- 
nent secretary  would  probably  be  $1,000,  making  a  total  of  $5,800  for 
these  items.  There  would  also  be  the  expenses  for  postage,  adver- 
tising, traveling  expenses  of  the  board  of  control,  and  other  inciden- 
tal items.  It  would  be  expected  that  the  halls,  recitation  rooms,  and 
equipment  for  illustrative  purposes  would  be  furnished  by  the  in- 
stitution at  which  the  normal  school  is  held. 

A  graduate  school  of  agriculture,  similar  in  character  to  the  nor- 
mal school  just  stated,  was  held  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  for  a  period 
of  four  weeks,  and  was  supplied  with  a  faculty  of  35  teachers  at  a 
cost  slightly  less  than  $4,000  for  the  term  ($3,945.12). 

WHAT  MAY  BE  ACCOMPLISHED.  • 

What  such  an  institution  could  accomplish  in  an  educational  way 
in  fitting  specialists  for  their  duties  by  devoting  their  attention  to  a 
single  study,  can  be  approximated  by  considering  what  is  now  accom- 
plished in  fitting  young  men  in  college  in  the  line  of  mechanic  arts 
in  the  brief  space  allotted  to  such  study.  Sixteen  weeks  of  six  days 
each  in  the  two-years'  course  proposed  for  the  institute  lecturers, 
with  three  hours  each  day  given  to  lectures  on  a  speciality^  three 
hours  to  practical  work,  and  one  hour  to  a  lecture  on  some  subject 
of  common  interest,  would  give  288  hours  to  instruction  in  the  stu- 
dents' speciality.  This  amounts  to  96  hours  given  to  lectures  on  gen- 
eral subjects;  283  hours  to  practical  work;  library  reference  work 
and  special  reading,  two  hours  each  day,  192  hours;  a  total  of  9  hours 
per  day  for  study,  recitation  and  practice  work,  or  864  hours  given  to 


14  • 

instruction,  all  but  96  of  which  are  devoted  to  a  special  line  of  study. 
Compare  this  with  the  hours  assigned  to  special  topics  in  the 
course  of  study  for  an  agricultural  college,  as  prepared  by  the  com- 
mittee of  the  Association  of  American  Agricultural  Colleges  and 
Experiment  Stations,  submitted  at  the  meeting  of  the  Association 
held  in  Washington,  D.  C,  November  17,  1903.  The  time  given  in- 
cludes the  practical  as  w^ell  as  the  class-room  work. 

Hours. 

Chemistry,   330 

Botany, 180 

Physiology,   180 

Horticulture  and  forestry^  180 

Veterinary  medicine,  180 

Zootechny,   160 

Agronomy,   140 

Zoology,    120 

Dairying,  70 

Meteorology, 60 

Farm  mechanics, 60 

Rural  economics, 60 


1,720 


Here  are  12  agricultural  subjects,  with  a  total  of  1,720  hours,  or 
in  average  of  143  hours  to  each,  the  highest  being  chemistry,  with 
330  hours.  This  comprises  the  agriculture  in  a  4-years'  college 
course,  while  in  the  normal  school,  as  outlined,  each  speciality  could, 
if  necessary,  in  the  16  weeks  have  devoted  to  it  768  hours,  or  more 
than  four  times  as  many  hours  as  are  given  to  the  highest  number  in 
the  4-years'  course  just  quoted,  except  the  number  given  to  chemis- 
try, which  includes  150  hours  for  general  chemistry. 

The  Pennsylvania  State  College  gives  390  hours  to  French,  and 
400  hours  to  German.  Harvard  University  requires  in  its  classical 
course  570  hours  in  Greek,  and  the  Divinity  School  at  Yale  devotes 
but  1,036  to  its  entire  3-year  course  of  preparation  of  men  to  preach 
the  Gospel. 

CAPABLE  OP  EXPANSION. 

Another  feature  of  these  institute  normal  schools  of  agriculture 
is  that  they  are  flexible,  capable  of  unlimited  expansion  at  very  lit- 
tle increased  cost.  No  money  is  needed  for  apparatus  or  libraries 
or  buildings  or  land,  animals  or  equipment.  All  that  is  expended 
goes  into  teaching  and  all  that  is  required  for  expansion  is  to  add 
from  time  to  time  to  the  faculties  of  instructors  as  the  students  in- 


15 

crease  and  the  courses  of  study  multiply.  A  greater  or  less  number 
of  states  can  unite  as  circumstances  warrant;  the  number  can  be  re- 
adjusted as  experience  demonstrates  to  be  necessary. 

PLACE  INSTITUTE  EDUCATION  WHERE  IT  BELONGS. 

The  union  system,  moreover,  will  interest  all  of  the  colleges  and 
experiment  stations  in  the  institute  work;  will  give  the  advantage 
of  wise  counsel  in  the  preparation  of  its  courses  of  study;  will  se- 
cure uniformity  in  teaching  and  in  the  subjects  taught  and  will  place 
the  moulding  of  institute  education  where  it  legitimately  belongs, 
in  the  hands  of  institutions  whose  distinctive  work  is  to  give  instruc- 
tion in  agriculture. 

INSTRUCTION  BY  LECTURERS. 

The  instruction  in  such  a  school  would  of  necessity  be  given  by 
lectures.  To  make  these  lectures  most  useful  in  their  immediate 
effect  as  well  as  permanently  valuable,  and  also  that  the  time  of  the 
professors  and  students  may  be  most  advantageously  used,  full  notes 
and  a  syllabus  should  be  prepared  and  printed  by  the  instructors  for 
distribution  to  their  classes  before  the  lectures  begin.  No  lecturer 
should  be  engaged  to  teach  who  would  not  supply  such  a  syllabus. 
It  is  important  that  the  students  shall  have  the  lectures  throughout 
in  the  exact  form  in  which  the  lecturer  presents  them,  inasmuch  as 
many  of  the  facts  given  are  to  be  quoted  in  their  subsequent  work 
as  teachers  in  the  farmers'  institutes  of  the  country. 

INITIATING   THE   MOVEMENT. 

Who  shall  take  the  initiative  in  the  inauguration  of  such  a  set  of 
schools?  First — The  plan  should  be  approved  by  the  American  As- 
sociation of  Farmers'  Institute  Workers,  and  second — It  should  be 
taken  up  by  the  National  Association  of  Agricultural  Colleges  and 
Experiment  Stations  and  thoroughly  discussed  in  all  of  its  details. 
If  found  to  be  feasible,  a  meeting  of  the  State  institute  directors, 
with  representatives  of  the  National  Association  of  Agricultural  Col- 
leges and  Experiment  Stations  could  be  had,  the  plans  be  perfected, 
the  states  be  grouped,  teachers  be  selected,  and  all  arrangements 
made  for  the  immediate  opening  of  the  schools. 

Such  a  set  of  schools  properly  equipped  will  do  as  much  to  assist 
farming  people  as  any  other  single  institution  in  existence,  import- 
ant as  many  of  them  are.  The  providing  for  the  instructing  of  men 
and  women  out  on  the  farms  so  that  they  may  understand  the  mys- 
teries of  their  occupation,  teaching  thjem  to  believe  in  it  and  love  it, 
is  worthy  of  the  efforts  of  our  most  earnest  and  capable  educators, 
and  the  maintenance  of  such  a  system  is  a  duty  which  each  state  will, 
according  to  its  ability,  no  doubt  cheerfully  undertake. 


16 

THE   NEXT   GREAT   ADVANCE. 

Interstate  normal  schools  of  agriculture  for  institute  workers  is 
the  next  great  advance  that  the  institute  movement  is  destined  to 
secure.  When  this  is  had,  then  the  great  need  of  the  institute  move- 
ment will  be  supplied.  The  need  for  means  for  equipping  a  large 
number  of  capable  and  enthusiastic  men  and  women  who  shall  carry 
the  news  of  a  better  agriculture  to  farming  people.  When  such  in- 
stitutions are  established,  many  problems  that  now  retard  the  pro- 
gress and  development  of  country  life  will  speedily  and  satisfactorily 
be  solved. 

SUGGESTED    GROUPING     OF    STATES    AND   TERRITORIES    FOR   NOR- 
MAL   AGRICULTURAL    SCHOOL    PURPOSES. 


Groups. 


ai 

(3 

P 

o 

l-l 

s 

o 

^ 

1 

E 

3 

J 

Z 

Group  1. 

Maine , 

New  Hampshire,    

Vermont 

Massachusetts, 

Rhode  Island,    

Connecticut 

Total,    

Group  2. 

New  York,    

New  Jersey,    

Pennsylvania , 

Delaware 

Maryland 

Ohio 

Total 

Group  3. 

Virginia 

West  Virginia 

North   Carolina,    

Tennessee 

Kentucky,    

Missouri 

Total 

Group  4, 

South    Carolina,     

Georgia 

Florida , 

Alabama,    

Mississippi, 

Louisiana 

Arkansas 

Total,     

Group  5. 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Michigan,     

Wisconsin 

Minnesota,     

Iowa 

Total,    


9 

16 

243,063 

14 

10 

118,948 

26 

14 

138,830 

68 

14 

165,515 

1 

5 

25,713 

n 

8 

119,003 

139 

67 

811,072 

66 

60 

1,010,376 

38 

19 

160,111 

58 

67 

1,077,661 

19 

3 

45,260 

7 

24 

230, 48Q 

29 

89 

1,237,790 

217 

262 

3,761,678 

3 

118 

867,758 

16 

55 

487,070 

8 

97 

1,145,755 

7 

96 

1,135,585 

11 

119 

1,153,032 

31 

115 

1,340,079 

76 

600 

6,129,279 

12 

41 

759,959 

8 

137 

1,077,136 

22 

45 

187,989 

11 

66 

1,060,644 

15 

75 

1,075,030 

13 

59 

554,031 

* 

75 

870,878 

81 

498 

5,585,667 

39 

92 

973,870- 

84 

103 

1,219,852 

97 

83 

993.342 

22 

73 

825,278 

13 

85 

779,470 

100 

1.037,811 

255 

536 

5,727,823 

Groups. 


Group  6 

Kansas,     

Nebraska,     

North  Dakota,    *.... 

South    Dakota 

Colorado 

Wyoming,    

Montana,    

Total 

Group  7 

Texas 

Indian  Territory,    

Oklahoma 

New  Mexico 

Arizona 

Total 

Group  8. 

California, 

Oregon 

Washington,     

Idaho ,. . 

Nevada,    '. . 

Utah 

Total 


16 

108 

763.186 

33 

90 

564,072 

11 

43 

217,657 

• 

67 

249,776 

9 

55 

104,701 

14 

27,296 

16 

28 

60,588 

85 

395 

1,987,276 

. 

220 

1,768,251 

8 

187,579 

6 

26 

289,188 

5 

22 

55.272 

4 

22 

30.362 

15 

298 

2,330.66^ 

23 

61 

308,891 

6 

38 

163,760 

3 

42 

155.430 

9 

5 

74.091 

5 

17 

8,170 

10 

29 

96,308 

56 

192 

806.650 

*No  report  of  lecturers. 


SUMMARY. 


Group  1,  ., 

Group  2,  ., 

Group  3,  . 

Group  4,  .. 

Group  5.  . 

Group  6.  ., 

Group  7.  .. 

Group  8,  .. 

Total, 


139 

67 

217 

262 

76 

600 

81 

498 

255 

536 

85 

395 

15 

298 

56 

192 

924 

2.848 

811,072 
3.761,678 
6.129,279 
5,585,667 
5,727.823 
1,987.276 
2,330,652 

806,650 


27,140,097 


(18) 


iwl60891 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  UBRARY 


